Puzzle 1
Starter clue: J = O
SJGNKVWJIXSWXPACUJHAPBRXGSJARSPGJVUZFKUUXWZUP,KBZGSJTIXRUHWBVPRIVBPXRPPAXRSKRDIXHGJVUZKBWZUPVRJJ!
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Work Cryptograms Set 13
5 cryptograms to solve with a pencil. Each letter of the quote has been swapped for another letter, and the same swap holds all the way through.
20 pt ciphertext — the size a newspaper puzzle page never gives you. 26 pt ciphertext with wide letter spacing and room to write. Both sizes print on US Letter with the answer key on its own page.
Printing this web page instead? Press Ctrl+P (⌘+P on a Mac). The navigation and buttons drop away, and the answer key prints on its own page — open it below first if you want it included.
The puzzles
Puzzle 2
Starter clue: H = O
JZZIRWDNQIHSNWFVHPKAHSMJPNCWUZJKHSNPIRWGJFIMWPWSJINHPRJDWKWWPVHPIRSHXMRIRWFXGGHSIHBGXKZNQHGNPNHP.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: T = E
ZTJPMYHUQJBBQTFYTITZUZVBT,NDLBCMCBTTYAMYDBTL,QDPPKTDEBQTMZUVZO,JYPUMBQJUTKK-XZTPUQMLETZSKVLTBQTLSTYT.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 4
Starter clue: B = S
ULZLYBUTHKTWAPUYTAB,YAULZBZABZYAFLYJLYOBZULZFTHQ,YBTWUZAVZBUBUOQYZQYAFTHEBATUCHTWZBBZQGKLYBUTHYJPG.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 5
Starter clue: S = E
XOSSAASLXDMGXODLCDAXOMXXOSTFNZAOFYGBCFJFNTMNBYLBSNXOSHSAXEFAADHGSEGML,MLBTDXOXOSGSMAXEFAADHGSBSGMQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Solver's cheat sheet
- Most common letters
- E T A O I N S H R D L U
- Most common 1-letter words
- A I
- Most common 2-letter words
- OF TO IN IT IS BE AS AT SO WE HE BY OR ON DO IF ME MY UP AN GO NO US AM
- Most common 3-letter words
- THE AND FOR ARE BUT NOT YOU ALL ANY CAN HER WAS ONE OUR OUT DAY GET HAS HIM HIS HOW MAN NEW NOW OLD SEE TWO WAY WHO BOY DID ITS LET PUT SAY SHE TOO USE
- Common double letters
- LL EE SS OO TT FF RR NN PP CC
- Common word endings
- -ING -ION -ENT -TION -LY -ED -ER -EST
- After an apostrophe
- T (don't) S (it's) RE (we're) VE (I've) LL (we'll) D (I'd)
Want this on its own sheet? Print the letter frequency chart.
Show the answer key (5 solutions)
- “How various his employments whom the world calls idle, and who justly in return Esteems that busy world an idler too!”— William Cowper, 1785, The Task, Book III. The Garden. Line 352 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=N C=P D=B E=X F=C G=W H=Y I=U J=O K=A L=Q M=K N=V O=F P=E Q=G R=T S=H T=J U=L V=R W=I X=S Y=Z Z=D
- “All the victories won by organized labor in the past generation have been won through the support of public opinion.”— Calvin Coolidge, 1925, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=Y B=F C=Z D=V E=M F=S G=P H=O I=T J=A K=B L=J M=G N=I O=K P=N Q=C R=H S=R T=X U=D V=W W=E X=U Y=Q Z=L
- “Reading what they never wrote, Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work, And with a well-bred whisper close the scene.”— William Cowper, 1785, The Task, Book II. The Timepiece. Line 411 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=M B=T C=F D=U E=P F=Y G=Z H=G I=V J=A K=L L=S M=I N=J O=K P=D Q=H R=X S=C T=E U=W V=O W=Q X=B Y=N Z=R
- “The history of nations, in the sense in which I use the word, is often best studied in works not professedly historical.”— Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1824, On Mitford's History of Greece. 1824 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=S C=P D=X E=K F=W G=L H=R I=Z J=C K=Y L=H M=Q N=M O=U P=A Q=D R=G S=J T=O U=T V=B W=F X=V Y=I Z=E
- “The essential thing is that the work should go forward under the best possible plan, and with the least possible delay.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1908, Eighth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=S B=D C=G D=I E=P F=O G=L H=B I=Z J=F K=V L=N M=A N=R O=H P=Q Q=Y R=J S=E T=W U=X V=M W=C X=T Y=U Z=K